Keynote Luncheon

Lori Raya is President of the Vons Division of Safeway, where she has ultimate responsibility for 278 Vons and Pavilions stores and more than 25,000 employees in Southern California and Southern Nevada.

Raya, who is the first woman President in the 106 year history of Vons and only the second woman to lead a Safeway Division in all of North America, began her career with the grocery giant in 1987, as a Courtesy Clerk in the company's Denver Division.

Over her 25 years with Safeway, her duties and responsibilities have steadily expanded, as she has progressed through the retail ranks. From running store operations in several of the company's key operating divisions to cross-training in the merchandising department at the senior level, Raya's considerable breadth of experience has provided her with a unique set of skills and earned her a reputation as a seasoned retail executive.

Her past assignments with Safeway include serving as a District Manager at Vons and Vice President of Retail Operations in the company's Northern California Division. Raya then joined the perishable marketing team as Group Vice President of Deli/Food Service, Starbucks and Bakery in 2009 and was promoted to Senior Vice President, with added responsibility for Dairy/Refrigerated and Frozen Food. In mid-2011, she assumed the position of Senior Vice President of Main Meals, Beverages/Snacks, before being named President of Vons in January 2012.

Raya, who has been named to Progressive Grocer's "Top Women in Grocery" listing for three consecutive years, is a sought-after resource throughout the industry, especially for women professionals seeking mentorship and support in their career development. She is a strong supporter of volunteerism and serves on the Board of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles.

Raya and her husband Sam, a retired Vons Store Manager, reside in the Shadow Hills community of Los Angeles.

Dan Sanders is the President of Albertsons (Southern California Division), a wholly-owned subsidiary of SUPERVALU. The company operates 247 stores throughout California and Las Vegas and employs more than 23,000 associates. Prior to assuming his current position, Mr. Sanders served as President of ACME Markets, a 116-store chain based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and CEO of United Supermarkets, an award-winning, privately held 50-store supermarket chain based in Texas. Throughout his career in the supermarket industry, Mr. Sanders has held a wide range of leadership positions in departments ranging from Human Resources to Marketing and Merchandising.

In addition to serving as a corporate executive, Mr. Sanders has enjoyed entrepreneurial ventures, as well. Mr. Sanders began his business ownership career as an equity partner at Adplex, a marketing company specializing in advertising production and business consultative services for high-profile corporate, retail, and entertainment organizations. Mr. Sanders and the Adplex leadership team purchased four companies, including MCI Digital as the privately held company grew to more than $100 million in annual sales. Mr. Sanders was instrumental in preparing the company for sale to a New York-based private investment firm. With completion of the deal, Adplex became a $200 million company with more than 1,000 employees and 11 locations across the country. Mr. Sanders also co-founded AdContent, a company specializing in content management, online ad building, promotions management and digital photography. Clients as diverse as American Airlines, NASCAR Images, HP, and YMCA still use the company's innovative Web-based rich media software to manage their intellectual property worldwide

In addition to his business endeavors, Mr. Sanders is a military veteran. He is a former Air Force U-2 reconnaissance pilot and a highly decorated officer, recognized for his aerial achievements during combat missions flown over Iraq during the first Gulf War. Additionally, he received numerous Air Medals for flying weather reconnaissance missions requiring the penetration of 33 typhoons. Mr. Sanders was named a distinguished graduate and class leader for pilot instructor training at Randolph Air Force Base, and he was recognized by the Chamber of Commerce with the Outstanding Undergraduate Pilot Training Student Award that recognized his community service during undergraduate pilot training at Reese Air Force Base, Texas. He also served as a member of the Air Force One Presidential Advance team for President George H. W. Bush. A graduate of Lubbock Christian University, Mr. Sanders received an all-university gold medal as the recipient of the Trustees' Award upon graduation. The award recognizes the graduating senior who best embodies the ideals of the university. He also received LCU's Outstanding Recent Graduate Award in 1986 and the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2007. Mr. Sanders is also an alumnus of Pepperdine University, where he earned an MBA with special emphasis on Integrated Strategic Planning. Upon graduation, Mr. Sanders received the university's highest honor, The George Award, for academic achievement and demonstrated leadership. He was selected by the Dean from more than 200 graduate students to deliver the student commencement address.

Mr. Sanders is also a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of two books, Built to Serve and Equipped to Lead. Both books were published by McGraw-Hill. An active community leader, Mr. Sanders serves in leadership roles with several non-profits. He served on the executive committee of the board of directors for both the Food Marketing Institute and the Western Association of Food Chains until 2010.

Justin Jackson is the Chief Operating Officer for Andronico’s Community Markets, a 5-store independent grocer located in Northern California.

Mr. Jackson began his career in the food industry 30 years ago working for a local market in Cambridge, Mass. He quickly moved through the ranks, gaining valuable experience and working in various key management positions overseeing prepared foods, seafood, cheese, corporate catering and home delivery service.

In 1995, Mr. Jackson was recruited by Whole Foods Market to lead its Specialty team. A year later, he was asked to lead Whole Foods Market’s Northeast Specialty Division; a position he held with distinction by leading the company in bottom line profitability and program innovation.

In 2004, Mr. Jackson moved to the Northern Pacific region to lead the reorganization of that division. Over the next five years, Mr. Jackson held various leadership positions including the head of the Grocery Division and Vice President of Purchasing for Whole Foods Market’s Northern California region. Eventually, Mr. Jackson returned to the Pacific Northwest Region to be the Vice President of Purchasing and assist with the integration and restructuring of the Wild Oats/Capers acquisition by Whole Foods.

In 2010, Mr. Jackson became the Executive Vice President & COO of specialty retailer Andronico’s Community Markets in the San Francisco Bay Area with the primary role of restructuring operations and attracting new capital to revitalize this small family-run grocery company. He successfully installed a new go-to-market strategy for all perishable and non-perishable programs, leading the company through Chapter 11 in 2011 and back to strong fiscal and operational performance.

He is the co-author, with Michael Sansolo, of "THE BIG PICTURE: Essential Business Lessons From The Movies," which uses movies ranging from "The Godfather" to "Young Frankenstein" to illustrate tenets of leadership, the importance of marketing and branding, and how to survive in the workplace. Coupe and Sansolo currently are outlining yet another business book, and Coupe also is laboring on a novel and a screenplay (which he describes as being a "black comedy about forward buying, just-in-time deliveries and slotting allowances").

For the past decade, he's had his own website/blog – www.MorningNewsBeat.com – providing what he calls "business news in context, and analysis with attitude" to more than 22,000 subscribers all over the world. An independent survey recently ranked MNB as the "top industry news and information site."

In addition to speaking at hundreds of conferences in the U.S. and abroad and reporting from 45 states and six continents, Kevin has worked as a daily newspaper reporter, magazine writer and editor, video producer, bodyguard, and clothing salesman. He has supervised a winery tasting room (happily), run two marathons (slowly), drove a race car (badly), taken boxing lessons (painfully) and acted in a major (and obscure) motion picture.

He is married with three children, and lives in Connecticut.